This invention relates to surgical implants which are commonly known as stents and more particularly to stents for occluding the human ductus arteriosus, cardiac septal defects and other blood vessels needing occlusion. This invention also relates to delivery systems for such stents and to methods of manufacturing such stents.
In the fetus, the ductus arteriosus is a patent vessel connecting the pulmonary artery to the aorta. At birth, a variety of physiological changes cause the ductus to constrict and it becomes permanently closed after one or two days. In a few cases, the ductus fails to occlude completely (patent ductus), allowing blood to flow from the aorta to the pulmonary artery, compromising respiration and circulation. Serious consequences may result.
Conversely, in some other circulatory birth defects in which the ductus has closed naturally, the patient benefits when the ductus is artificially re-opened.
Surgical interventions to alleviate a patent ductus arteriosus consist of either surgically ligating the leak path or implantation of a xe2x80x9csingle umbrellaxe2x80x9d, such as the C R Bard PDA Umbrella. The delivery system for this device is large and it cannot be used in very small children. The clinical approaches currently in use are problematic; the surgery is major, requires significant exposure and has an associated morbidity. Technically, considerable difficulties can be experienced in accurately siting and deploying the umbrella device because of its large delivery system.
As an alternative to surgery, pharmacological agents can be used to constrict the ductus but this technique can only be used in babies and is not always successful. Also such agents have side effects.
There are many designs of stents currently in commercial use, the Gianturco, (EP0282175) Palmatz-Schatz, Wall stent and others are well known in the art. These stents are designed for use in vessels which are several times longer than their diameter and the stents share this aspect ratio. Most designs exhibit spring resistance to radial compression but nevertheless are intended to be approximately parallel sided cylindrical tubes, once implanted. The ductus arteriosus is short with respect to its diameter and as a result conventional stent designs are the wrong shape and tend to migrate. It is quite usual for surgeons to modify existing devices to make them more appropriate for implantation in this procedure. But this is not an ideal solution to the problem.
Existing stents are intended to maintain the patency of diseased blood vessels and to minimise the risk of creating further local disease or trauma. For instance, introduction of a stent can cause intimal hyperplasia by damaging plaques on the vessel wall. Blood flow which impinges on the stent may become turbulent and create further neo intimal proliferation. For these reasons, stents are usually designed with the minimum of material to reduce their surface area.
EP-A0666065 discloses stents for maintaining the patency of passages in the biliary, urinary or vascular system, wherein the stent is formed of a shape memory alloy (SMA) wire or mesh and can be changed thermally from a first configuration in which it has distal and proximal coiled or mesh cylindrical portions which are spaced apart, into a second configuration in which the proximal portion flares into a funnel shape which increases in diameter away from the distal portion which expands in diameter. However, such stents require a relatively large delivery system.
Other examples of stents based on SMA wire for maintaining the patency of vessels are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,956 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,338.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,301 and DD 233303 disclose a number of occluding stents for the ductus arteriosus based on SMA materials. However, none of these is capable of adopting a small cross-sectional area for delivery to the required site.
It is an object of a first aspect of the present invention to provide an occluding stent which is capable of being delivered and placed relatively easily.
According to said first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stent for surgical implantation into a patient, said stent including a wire which is expandable from a relatively straightened state for introduction into the patient, to an occluding state wherein the wire defines an occluding anchor part in which the wire has adopted a series of turns extending over the cross-sectional area of the occluding anchor part.
The stent of the present invention, despite occupying a small cross-sectional area in its relatively straightened state, presents a significant surface area to blood flow in its expanded occluding state, both to increase the probability of clotting and to provide a significant support for mechanical, biological or pharmacological coatings or surface treatments. In one embodiment of the design, the stent can be used as a drug delivery vehicle by means of slow release pharmacological coatings. In another embodiment, the surface of the stent is roughened to provide an attractive substrate for cell adhesion so that the mechanical action of the device alone will fuse the ductus. Combinations of these characteristics are possible and the coatings or treatments can be applied over all or part of the surface of the stent.
Conveniently, in its expanded occluding state, the stent has three distinct regions which can be manufactured as separate components or as a monobloc construction and which comprise the occluding anchor part, another anchor part which may also have an occluding function, and a linking part between the anchor parts. The anchor parts are typically circular in section and their diameters are greater than the minimum diameter of the vessel within which the stent is placed. The stent may be placed such that the anchor parts are positioned either side of the narrowest part of the vessel. In this way it will be impossible for either anchor part to pass through the entire length of the vessel, preventing its migration. This construction is particularly suitable for short vessels which are to be occluded.
The link part may be a simple wire rod, or it may be a tube or mesh. Its principal function is to maintain the separation of the anchor parts to their designed value. It has an outer diameter which is less than the maximum outer diameters of either anchor part.
At least one of the anchor parts may be designed to lie within the vessel and have a conical form in the occluding state, expanding distally and applying a radially expansive force to secure it in position. Alternatively, at least one of the anchor parts is of substantially planar spiral form in its occluding state, and is sufficiently flexible that, upon expansion, it distorts so as to adopt the cross-sectional profile of the wall of the passage in which it is located in use.
If the stent is deployed close to the junction of the vessel with another, larger, vessel then one anchor part can have such a large diameter that it can only sit within the larger vessel. In this case, the form of the anchor part is conveniently planar or saddle shaped so that it conforms to the inner wall of the larger vessel.
The stent can be manufactured using established techniques such as helically wound wire, (single-stranded or twisted or braided multi-stranded) and welded wires, from metal or plastics including biodegradable plastics such as polylactic acid. Specifically included are shape memory effect materials, superelastic materials and polymers.
When a shape-memory effect material is employed, its transition temperature may be in the range of 0xc2x0 C. to 50xc2x0 C., permitting designs of stent which will trigger at blood temperature and therefore need to be actively cooled to keep them from deforming prematurely, or devices which trigger above blood temperature and so need to be actively heated to make them adopt their final shape. A number of means for heating can be employed, including perfusion with warm liquid, or electrical or induction heating.
The stent can be used on a wide range of ages of child from pre-term babies and neonates to infants and juniors. A range of appropriate sizes can be used which employ wire diameters from 0.2 mm to 0.9 mm, with the outer diameter of the anchor part 12 being in the range of 7 to 12 mm, the smaller diameter of the anchor part 10 being in the range of from 2 to 4 mm and the outer diameter being in the range of from 5 to 10 mm. The overall length of the stent will normally range from about 6 to 12 mm.
The stent may have its surfaces treated to facilitate both thrombus aggregation and natural cell proliferation. To induce these effects, the stent surface may be modified mechanically by abrasion or by attaching a protein, (eg thrombin or collagen) that initiates blood clotting and cell attachment. The materials and processes required for these coatings are well known per se in the art.
In some applications of the stent, the ends of the device will project into normal, healthy blood vessels whilst the central section of the stent lies in the section to be occluded. Coatings may be applied in zones onto the stent. In this way, the ends of the stent can be coated with thrombo-resistant materials whilst the central section can be coated with thrombus-promoting materials. Such coatings can be applied by a sequence of dipping and masking steps.
It is preferred to provide an insulating coating to mitigate possible problems of metal migration when certain dissimilar metals are in the presence of sodium, potassium and, particularly calcium ions. Examples of insulating coatings include the pyrolytic carbons known as xe2x80x9cdiamond-like carbonxe2x80x9d (DLC) which have found application in the medical devices field as inert, corrosion-and abrasion-resistant materials. DLCs prevent migration of constituent metals from an alloy and prevent their entry into the body. In an additional embodiment, the stent types previously described are coated with a DLC film. Antithrombogenic or thrombogenic agents can be deposited on the DLC coating either directly or by means of an intermediate coating which enables an intimate attachment to both coating materials.
In cases where the stent is coated with agents to reduce thrombogenesis and atherogenesis, such agents may be held within a biodegradable matrix such as polylactic acid or polyglycolic acid which in themselves will control cell proliferation. This arrangement will yield a local, slow release of the active substances.
The stents according to the present invention are capable of being delivered down a very small catheter, allowing their use in smaller patients, and do not require open surgery. The stent does not require to be modified before use by the surgeon and has a sufficient surface area within the vessel lumen for pharmacological agents to be added which will augment the action of the stent in closing the ductus or other passageway to be occluded.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a delivery system for placement of a stent according to said first aspect of the present invention in a patient, said system comprising (i) a catheter containing or adapted to contain said stent in its relatively straightened state, (ii) an elongate flexible placement member extending or being adapted to extend longitudinally of said catheter and having proximal and distal ends, and (iii) releasable connection means connecting or being adapted to connect the distal end of the placement member with the stent.
The catheter may be single or multiple lumen tube whose inner diameter allows the stent to pass through without hindrance. The catheter is preferably constructed of a material which resists permanent deformation after following a tortuous pathway through the vascular system. Many polymeric materials can be employed, of which polyvinyl chloride compounds and derivatives, polyurethanes and polyesters are typical of materials that can be employed.
The placement member may comprise a pusher wire used to push the stent through the catheter and deliver it to its final location. The wire will be an appropriate gauge to fit within the catheter without kinking. It may be linked to the stent via the connection means to allow the stent to be withdrawn if required.
In versions of the stent manufactured from thermal shape memory effect materials, the catheter is designed to insulate the stent from the ambient-blood heat and, optionally, to circulate cooling fluid around the catheter. If the stent is designed to trigger above blood temperature, the catheter may be used to deliver a bolus of warm fluid to trigger the stent once in place.
A shape memory effect material may also be used for the connection means or as a connector for many other uses. Thus, in accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a releasable connector for releasably interconnecting first and second parts, said connector comprising first and second connector regions adapted to be secured respectively to the first and second parts, wherein the first connector region has a shape memory effect and is changeable from a first state to a second state above a predetermined trigger temperature, said first state being one in which the first connector region is adapted to hold the first part, and the second state being one in which the first connector region is adapted to release the first part so as to enable the first and second parts to be disconnected.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of producing a shaped article, eg a stent such as a stent according to said first aspect of the present invention, comprising the steps of (a) winding a length of shape memory material onto a mandrel to form a series of turns defining a coil region having a longitudinal extent; (b) treating the material wound onto the mandrel so as to set therein a memory of the shape of the coil region; (c) removing the wound material from the mandrel; (d) treating the removed material so as to recover the memorised shape of the coil region; (e) changing the length of the coil region; and (f) treating the material so as to set therein a memory of the changed shape of the coil region.
Step (e) is effected by reducing the length of the coil region, possibly so that it is substantially planar. The coil region resulting from step (b) may be of circular or non-circular cross-section and may have a cross-section which tapers longitudinally of the coil region.
Between steps (d) and (f), one or more of the turns defining the coil region may displaced laterally of the direction of longitudinal extent of the coil region.